Brain Evolution in the Times of the Pandemic and Multimedia.

Abstract

BACKGROUND In this paper we argue that recent unprecedented social changes arising from social media and the internet represent powerful behavioral and environmental forces that are driving human evolutionary adaptive responses in a way that might reshape our brain and the way it perceives reality and interacts with it. These forces include decreases in physical activity, decreases in exposure to light and face-to-face social interactions, as well as diminished predictability in biological rhythms (i. e. the sleep cycle is no longer dictated by natural light exposure and season). SUMMARY We discuss the roles of stress and of creativity and adaptability in Homo sapiens evolution and propose mechanisms for human adaptation to the new forces including epigenetic mechanisms, gene culture coevolution and novel mechanisms of evolution of the nervous system. KEY MESSAGES We present the provocative idea that evolution under the strong selective pressures of today's society will ultimately enable Homo sapiens to thrive despite social, physical, circadian and cultural deprivation and possible neurological disease, and thus withstand the loss of factors that contribute to Homo sapiens survival of today. The new Homo sapiens would flourish under a lifestyle in which the current form would feel undervalued and replaceable.